


green eyes and calloused hands

by taciturnMasquerade



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: A LOT of Angst, F/F, Like, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmate AU, actually both him and seb do that, aggressively lesbian haley is my aesthetic, alex is a cute bean but sometimes pretends to be an asshole, also alex and haley being cute supportive best friends, everyone dreams about their soulmate, hate to love cliche, i love her okay, lots of pretending to be assholes, so i apologize in advance for literally all of this, suuuuper slow burn, taking so much liberty with the characters, there's a lot of my own personal hcs in here tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13873119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taciturnMasquerade/pseuds/taciturnMasquerade
Summary: Ever since he moved to Pelican Town, Alex has been having dreams about his soulmate. He's never seen their face, or... anything, really, but he's practically memorized how their hand fits in his by this point. There's almost nothing he wants more than to find them, but he has resigned himself to waiting until he finally gets his big break and moves to the city, not believing he'll ever be lucky enough to find his soulmate in the never-changing, always boring Pelican Town.However, one day, Sebastian tells him to fuck off and somehow everything changes.





	1. rainy days make one sad alex

The darkness consumed Alex, and within it, there was the sense of something familiar. Nerves tingling with anticipation, he reached out blindly, his eyes straining to see anything. Out of the stormy blackness, something smooth brushed against his knuckles, and slim, delicate fingers intertwined with his own. He could feel calloused fingertips caress the back of his hand, as familiar and comforting as the sound of his own breathing. And the feeling–that slight, panicked thought that he might explode from happiness, that this was just a bit _too_ comfortable–it was as necessary as breathing, too. It was what made living turn into _being alive_ , and he craved that soft, flighty touch of whoever had those delicate hands. 

Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the comforting darkness, and the hand that gripped his faded instantly, retreating into the shadows. Someone grabbed his shoulders, and he was ripped away, eyes blinking open and squinting against the painfully bright summer sun. 

"Alex, you're going to become a tomato if you stay sleeping much longer!" Came a bright, teasing voice. Alex turned his head to the side slightly, and immediately recoiled in surprise, not expecting to see Haley's face a mere four inches from his own. She laughed, sitting up and moving back to her own towel, safely under the shade of an umbrella. 

"How long have I been out for?" Alex asked as he sat up, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to get them adjusted to the brightness of the beach. It didn't work. 

Haley shrugged. "Long enough to risk a sunburn," she replied. "I know you claim that you only tan, but I'm positive that's not true. No one is safe from the UV." She nudged her sunglasses down her nose enough to expose her eyes, a theatrical exaggeration of solemnity filling her gaze. 

Alex snorted, rolling his eyes. It was rare to see Haley relaxed enough to be joking around. She tended to put on a façade of superiority when around others, just as Alex did, but when the two of them were alone, she would allow herself to relax. It had taken quite a long time for them to get to this point, along with countless arguments, but somewhere along the way, Haley had become Alex's best friend, and he never would have wanted it another way. 

"Seriously though," Haley continued when Alex didn't respond after a few moments. "My worry for your perfect complexion was only half of the reason I woke you up. It looks like a storm is coming." When Alex gave her a confused look, still feeling rather groggy from his nap, she rolled her eyes and pointed behind him. 

Alex turned his head to look over his shoulder, straining uncomfortably, and sure enough, there was a looming dark cloud on the horizon. Disappointment immediately filled him, a heavy feeling in his chest. He supposed that he had been lucky enough that majority of the summer so far had been clear skies and pleasant breezy days; even so, actually seeing the dark clouds rushing their way caused his perfect summer to come crashing down around him. Sighing, he hauled himself up off his blanket. 

"You should head home," he said to Haley. "I'll clean up everything, so you don't have to worry about getting wet." The two had spent majority of the day on the beach, starting as soon as the sun had warmed the sand enough. It had been Alex's turn to pack lunch, and various items of food were still scattered about a picnic blanket Haley had brought. He figured that it was small enough of a mess that he could clean it up on his own and still get home before the downpour that was sure to come. 

Haley cast him a doubtful look, but she was never one to turn down an offer of goodwill from Alex. With a smile, dimmed slightly from disappointment, she gave him a quick hug in farewell and scampered off in the direction of her house. Alex watched her leave for a few moments before a rumble of rapidly approaching thunder broke him out of his thoughts. The sky was already noticeably dimmer than it had been when he had woken up from his dream. 

At the mention, Alex's thoughts almost immediately went back to the feeling of that hand in his. He was almost positive it was something he would never forget. He had experienced similar dreams countless times over the years, but the most common one by far was that of holding hands, as cheesy as it sounded. 

It was his soulmate that he was dreaming of, that he was certain. Before he had ever had one of the dreams for the first time, his mother had explained that they would happen, that it was a natural part of growing up. At the time, he had been enthralled with the idea, eager to find his soulmate without thought for consequence. He had awaited his first dream with baited breath, and the first few nights after he had first learned of the dreams, he had been too excited to even sleep, ironically. When the first dream had finally come, he had woken up with a start, his hands shaking. Now, they were just a part of everyday life, and the one thing he looked forward to every night (they only came about twice a week at most, but just the possibility filled him with anticipation). 

He shook his head, clearing the thoughts of that hand brushing against his. The clouds were getting dangerously close, so he had to concentrate on actually getting the hell out of there before he was dumped on. Alex worked quickly, clearing away the leftover food and carefully packing everything into the basket. However, when he started folding the blanket up, he felt a large drop of rain hit his neck, sliding down the bare skin uncomfortably. 

Swearing softly under his breath, he bunched up the blanket and set off towards home at a quick jog. The rain started coming down quicker as if to spite him, and by the time Alex made it to the end of the beach, he was already practically soaked. He slowed his pace down to a more miserable, slouching gait, figuring that going faster wasn't going to save him now. He might as well reflect his sadness like the overdramatic piece of shit he was. 

As he made his way back to his house, head down against the rain, he was startled by movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing up quickly, he saw Sebastian, the very image of doom and gloom. Black, soaked hair fell in his eyes, and he was clad in nothing more than a grey sweatshirt, equally wet. He didn't even seem to _care_ that he was clearly shivering. The strangest part, though, was not that Sebastian seemed unbothered by the rain; it was that he was heading in the exact opposite direction of his house. 

It was rare enough to actually _see_ the dude outside in the summer, let alone during the worst possible weather. 

...Then again, considering that this was Sebastian they were talking about, he supposed that if anyone in the town would willingly head outside during a thunderstorm, it would be him. 

"Hey, what are you doing out?" Alex asked, unable to help his own curiosity. He rarely talked to Sebastian, especially since every time he tried to for as long as he could remember, all he got was a glare in response. After so long, no one could really blame him for not trying. It was Sebastian's own fault that he didn't have any friends outside of his little group of weirdos. But really, Alex had a curse. He could never resist prying into other people's business, it seemed. He was positive he'd gotten this from Haley, what with all the gossip she always shared. Thus, despite Sebastian being the receiving end of his question, Alex just _had_ to ask. 

Unsurprisingly, this time was no different than all previous attempts at conversation. Sebastian gave Alex a thoroughly unimpressed look. Alex felt an uncomfortable shiver run down his spine, but he tried not to show his discomfort at the look, straightening up imperceptibly. Jesus, Sebastian could really be scary when he wanted to be. 

"I think the better question is what you're doing outside," Sebastian replied, his voice rough. He was clearly already 120% done with this conversation, but did Alex care? Of course not. 

"I asked first, so I'll only answer if you do," he replied impulsively. Alex could never pass up a chance to issue a challenge, as inconsequential as this one was. He had always been competitive at heart. Unfortunately, he had never found someone in town that quite matched up with his own stubborn spirit. 

"Fuck off," Sebastian muttered, his gaze turning impossibly darker. "I really don't have the time for this." He continued down the path he was currently taking and shoved past Alex. Of course, considering the considerably larger bulk of Alex, Sebastian really just bounced off of him, creating the complete opposite of the intended effect. Alex would have laughed if he hadn't already lost every possible ounce of joy from the rain still pouring down upon him. 

Without watching to see where Sebastian was going (his curiosity had been pushed aside by his rapidly increasing desire for shelter), Alex hurried back to his house. He was greeted by the worried face of his grandmother, Evelyn. 

"I was wondering when you would be coming home," she warbled, rushing over to him with an armful of towels that she procured from seemingly nowhere. "It's raining something fierce out there, isn't it?" 

Alex smiled sheepishly, gratefully accepting the towels that Evelyn offered him in order to start drying off. "Sorry, Evelyn," he said. "I tried to get back sooner, I promise, but the rain came down before I even left the beach." 

Evelyn tsked softly, but she didn't bother scolding him. It had been a hard habit for her to break ever since he had become an adult–not worrying over his every move. She had always done her best to be a good mother to the child that had lost his own; Alex was almost positive that she had put aside her own grief over losing her daughter for many years and had replaced it with a determination to raise her grandson properly. 

Even now, she made sure to take care of him well, and Alex did his best to return home every evening at a reasonable time so as never to worry poor old Evelyn. Even though Haley teased him often for caring so much about his grandmother when he was a grown adult, he didn't think too much of it. Making sure she didn't have to worry was the least he could do to pay back for all the years she cared for him. 

So, when she led him away from the entryway, suggesting that he should go take a warm shower to prevent a cold, he did so with a smile, heading into the bathroom with a promise to be out in enough time to help with dinner. 

Whilst dousing himself with a stream of warm water, weak from years of use, Alex's thoughts wandered back to the conversation he had just held with Sebastian–if it could even be called that. It was the first time they had talked in what, a year? Alex honestly couldn't even remember. It seemed that these days, majority of his past was becoming dimmer, his memories shoved out of the way in favor of pushing himself harder, spending more time working out or wishing he knew how the hell trigonometry worked. 

There just wasn't the time to worry about how one strange kid thought of him, or why he wouldn't ever allow the slightest hint of kindness from Alex. But now, well, he couldn't exactly work out or smash his head against a textbook in frustration when he was in the shower. There wasn't really anything stopping him from pondering what had just happened. 

And besides, there was something about the way Sebastian had looked at him... 

Usually, whenever he saw Sebastian, he kept his eyes downcast, and if he did happen to glance up, his gaze gave away nothing, perfectly blank. It was the perfect poker face that Alex couldn't even dream of ever mastering. 

Today, however, there had been a raw, exposed sort of look in his eyes. And the more Alex thought about it, the more he was convinced that Sebastian had been seriously angry. There had been a dangerous amount of venom stored behind that glance that Sebastian had sent his way. Even so, Alex couldn't be sure that it was meant for him. 

Yeah, the dude definitely had something against him, but he was positive that if Sebastian actually hated him, he wouldn’t hesitate to make it known. When he had told Alex to fuck off, that wasn't hatred. No, for Sebastian, Alex was almost positive that was practically tolerance. He just clearly didn't want Alex there. 

So, if that was the case, just where had he been heading? 

Alex mulled over the possibilities for a few minutes, but eventually, his brain throbbed in protest. Evidently, he was thinking much too hard about this. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned off the shower and vowed to figure this mystery out some other day. 

He had the time, after all; it wasn't like anything interesting happened in Pelican Town anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, my first stardew valley fic!! i've been playing this game for literal ages, and lately i've been craving some exploration of characters like seb and alex! i've always thought that the contrast between them would make for such an interesting relationship dynamic, but at this point, there's only, like, two fics for them on here.  
>  _two_  
>  it saddens my poor lil heart to not see this pairing get some more love, so i thought i'd write a fanfic of my own! this one is gonna be super cliche, so i apologize in advance. :P  
> updates might be slow because i'm lazy and constantly in a cycle of endless writer's block, but i'll do my best to get new chapters out asap!  
> i hope you enjoy the lil beans, and if you wanna talk stardew valley with me, hmu whenever! i'm always happy to chat~  
> my tumblr can be found [here](http://taciturnmasquerade.tumblr.com/)! i haven't used it in literal ages, but i might post updates on there about my fics!


	2. first world problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dusty is the best boy and alex is an overdramatic baby when it comes to his sleep schedule  
> also ice cream

Alex woke up much later than usual the next day. The average summer morning, he would rise with the sun, and would wake just as its rays peeked over his windowsill. However, today, his room was completely filled with light by the time he woke up. Groaning at the ache already forming beneath his eyelids for oversleeping, he rolled over onto his side to glance at the time on his phone. It was already 8:30, which was over two hours more than the usual time he got up. He hadn't even stayed up late, so why he had accidentally slept in was beyond him. Life truly was a mystery. 

He flopped out of bed, his movements mirroring that of a cooked noodle. Oversleeping was the bane of Alex's existence; he was positive he was going to end up with a headache by the end of the day if the usual pattern on these sorts of days held true. 

Within a few minutes, Alex was dressed and ready for the day, trudging out of his room with a frown that could give George a run for his money. In fact, the old man even gave Alex an odd look when he saw him walk by, surely wondering what had caused the breach in routine. However, he didn't question it. Alex appreciated that about George–he always seemed to know when conversation wasn't wanted. Probably because he rarely wanted it himself these days, Alex thought dryly. 

He headed for the door, figuring that it might be nice to spend some time tossing around the gridball before he had to head to the ice cream stand to work. He normally would have gone to the beach, but considering his schedule was already completely messed up, he figured one more change wouldn't hurt. Besides, he was afraid that his skills were getting rusty. He couldn't allow that to happen. 

What he expected to see when he walked outside was a bright, sunny day, with the usual dog toys and balls lying about on the ground, without a soul in sight; just as he would have liked it on a day like today. 

What he got was Haley standing outside his dog's pen, snapping pictures of Dusty. It was almost comical, how both of them had their tongues sticking out slightly (Haley from concentration and Dusty from the heat), as if she was subconsciously mirroring the dog's expression. 

"Um," Alex said eloquently. Haley looked up from her work quickly, startled by the noise. 

"Oh, sorry!" She exclaimed, walking over to him with a smile that didn't seem all that apologetic at all. "The lighting was really nice, and I happened to have my camera with me, and did you know that Dusty makes a really good model?" 

Alex raised an eyebrow at her rant, glancing over to Dusty. He usually wasn't the most photogenic of dogs, but for some reason, he looked rather elegant at the moment, as if he had been posing for Haley. Honestly, Alex wouldn't be surprised if he had been. Dusty had always been a smart dog, after all. Pretty vain, too. 

He was distracted from his thoughts by a hand waving in front of his face. 

"Hello? Alex? You're totally spacing out right now," Haley said, peering at him suspiciously. "Also, what's up with that frown?" 

Alex sighed, hating just how peppy Haley could act sometimes when she really wanted to. Despite usually being fairly relaxed, she certainly had her moments where she could turn up her energy level to 300. 

"Slept too long," he replied. "Also I got rained on yesterday." 

Haley's face fell into a small frown of her own at the news, clearly guilty about not helping him clean up yesterday. She shook it off quickly, however, which Alex was grateful for. He wasn't looking for sympathy, since that would only make him feel worse. 

"Hey, you're working today, right?" Haley asked. When Alex nodded an affirmative, she continued, "Then let me keep you company! It'll make your job a lot more bearable if you're spending the time with lovely lil' me!" 

Alex couldn't help a small smile at that, knowing that Haley was completely right. Company would always make the endless hours sitting out in the sun hoping for customers a little more bearable. 

"All right," he agreed. "But only if you promise me a photoshoot." 

"Deal." 

\---- 

Alex had ice cream dripping down his hand, melting rapidly in the late-afternoon sun. He licked the chocolate off of his skin, and his resulting grin was bright, as if he embodied the sun itself. Haley giggled at the image he presented—a grown man acting like a child at the sight of ice cream—and snapped a few pictures, checking her camera afterwards. 

“What do you think?” Alex asked through a mouthful of ice cream that he had bitten off from his cone. “Do I have a promising career in modeling if gridball doesn’t work out?” 

“Maybe if you stop biting into your ice cream like a heathen,” Haley teased, flipping her hair over her shoulder with much more attitude than should be legal. 

“Hey, what does that have to do with my gorgeous body?” Alex asked, pouting slightly. “I’m perfectly handsome no matter how I eat my ice cream.” 

“Sure, sweetie,” Haley replied, patting Alex on the head in a teasingly condescending manner. The touch mussed his hair, which he had carefully styled that morning, but he didn’t mind much. He found that the stylishly messy look was actually quite charming on him. Hell, considering his face, he could probably pull off a bowl cut if he really wanted to. Not that he would ever get one, of course. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a shadow falling over Alex and the sound of someone clearing their throat pointedly. Alex snapped to attention, accidentally dropping his ice cream cone on the ground in a rush to serve an actual customer. 

"Hi, how may I–" he started with a smile, but immediately cut himself off when he saw that the customer was Sebastian, of all people. With how pale he was, Alex was shocked to even see him outside on a day like today. Didn't the dude live in a cave or something? 

"What are you doing here, Sebastian?" he asked, totally not judging. 

"Maru," Sebastian replied, as if that was a proper answer. "Can I get one strawberry and–" 

Alex cut off his order, leaning over the ice cream to peer at Sebastian suspiciously. "What do you mean by 'Maru'?" 

Sebastian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking as if he was fighting off a headache. The part of Alex that still hadn't forgotten that he had overslept felt Sebastian's pain. 

"She forced me out here on a stupid step-sibling bonding adventure. Her words, not mine," Sebastian explained. "Now can I please–" 

Once again, Alex cut him off. He definitely was not enjoying this. 

(Okay, maybe he was. Just a little.) 

"Maru called it stupid? That doesn't sound like something she would say," he mused, a small smile forming on his lips. 

"Fucking... I added that part, okay?" Sebastian muttered, his brows furrowing in annoyance. "I don't want to be here, but she lured me outside with the promise of ice cream." 

Alex stored that information away with a grin. Sebastian had a sweet tooth, huh? He never would have guessed it just by looking at him. He seemed like the sort of person that found his pleasure by sucking the joy out of everyone around him. Kind of like a vampire, but with happiness. Or like that one thing from Harry Potter that he could never remember the name of. Alex snickered at the thought, earning a confused look from both Sebastian and Haley. 

Before either of them could comment and force Alex to explain what the hell was going through his head right now, he quickly plastered on a fake, customer service smile and asked, "So, what can I do ya for, Sebastian?" 

"Probably a thousand at least. I'm a high-class prostitute," Sebastian responded, and if the flush that covered his face almost immediately afterwards was any indication, that had slipped out without thought. Haley snorted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand to hide her smile, and Alex couldn't help his own chuckle, delayed slightly from surprise. 

Two more things that Alex learned about Sebastian just then: 

It was incredibly obvious when he blushed, thanks to his ghostly complexion. 

He apparently had a dirty sense of humour, much like Alex himself. 

The latter was definitely a pleasant surprise. Alex hadn't thought that Sebastian had it in him. 

"Sorry man, but I don't have that much. Maybe next time," Alex replied with a grin, barely able to hold himself back from an unbearably cheesy wink (Haley once told him he would even flirt with a tree if he had the chance, and she probably wasn't wrong). "How about buying some ice cream instead?" 

Sebastian cleared his throat, dropping his eyes to the ground as he clearly tried to regain his usual composure. 

"Yeah, um, I'll take one strawberry and one chocolate," he replied, and when he looked up again, his eyes were as flat and bored as usual. It was rather astonishing, how quickly he could change his facial expressions. Alex was a little jealous. 

"Which one is for the sis?" Alex asked as he scooped the ice cream into cones, finding the silent stare of Sebastian much too disconcerting. At least if they were talking, Alex could imagine that he wasn't being judged. 

"Strawberry," Sebastian responded. Alex was nothing if not observant, and if Sebastian's one-word response meant anything, it was probably that he had reached his conversational limit for the day. 

Instead of trying to continue conversation, Alex resigned himself to suffering through the silence, trying his best to pretend that Sebastian wasn't staring straight into his soul. 

He made another mental note as he handed the cones over to Sebastian: he liked chocolate, just like Alex. 

It was only when Sebastian walked away with a mumbled thanks that Alex realized his own cone was still in the dirt, the remaining ice cream rendered inedible from debris. 

“…Damnit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy here's a quick lil update for y'all! i wanted to write a bit more, but i figured i've left everyone waiting long enough, and i'm not sure when i'll have the time to write again. so, i hope you guys enjoy this small update! more coming soon!  
> if you wanna talk stardew valley with me, hmu whenever! i'm always happy to chat~  
> my tumblr can be found [here!](http://taciturnmasquerade.tumblr.com/)


	3. butterfly soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haley is gay and i'm also gay  
> suddenly everyone is gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone knows what the chapter title is a reference too, i will seriously love you forever.

There were far too many changes recently for Alex to feel completely comfortable in Pelican Town these days; it seemed every sunrise brought with it a new surprise, as if the town was trying to make up for how far behind the rest of the world it was after years of bland monotony. This morning was no exception. 

Alex left the house sporting a swimsuit and with a towel in hand, and almost ran straight into some girl he had never seen before in his life. Perhaps if he lived in the city, he wouldn't consider this odd, but it was Pelican Town, and no one new ever came here. _Ever_. 

Not to mention, the girl had an odd look about her; a bright smile was plastered on her face, and she leaned in towards him slightly, as if she was inspecting him. Had she been waiting here for someone to come out? Alex suppressed a shiver. 

Ignoring her odd, expectant stare, she was admittedly gorgeous. Long, dark hair, curly and tangled from the light summer breeze framed her features. Her dark skin, freckles, and bright eyes spoke of someone well accustomed to nature, which Alex figured was probably a good thing if she was new around these parts. There was literally nothing but nature. 

"Hi!" The girl said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence between them. "I'm Namyde, but you can just call me Aki! I'm the new farmer 'round these parts!" 

She stuck out a hand for him to shake, and despite its seemingly delicate appearance, when he reached out to give it a firm shake, her skin was rough from work. Perhaps he was right about the whole nature-loving thing... And now that he thought about it, hadn't Lewis mentioned a new neighbour moving in at some point? He really needed to start paying more attention to the goings-on in this town. 

"It's nice to meet you," he said quickly, once he realized that she was waiting on a response from him for a bit longer than socially acceptable. "Why do you go by Aki? It's, uh, not exactly a part of your name. Like, at all." 

Namyde laughed, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "It's just a nickname my grandpa gave me. I've gone by it ever since!" 

Alex shrugged a little; he supposed that made sense, but it was still a little odd. Then again, almost _everything_ about this girl seemed a little odd. He didn't even know how to describe it, exactly. It was as if she could see right through everything he did. 

Alex shook off the thought, doing his best to ignore the odd, prickly feeling he felt under her deceptively sweet gaze. She was probably perfectly nice, and he was just being weirdly paranoid about having a new neighbor. 

"Right. Well then, I guess I'll see you around, Aki. Welcome to town!" He said, flashing one of his signature grins her way and giving a small wave. With that, she jogged away, presumably to introduce herself to some of the other townsfolk (Alex silently wished her luck in even seeing Sebastian, since he almost never left his room). 

Almost immediately after the girl left, a familiar face peeked around the side of Alex's house. A blonde streak darted out, and before Alex could fully comprehend what was happening, he was being dragged away by Haley to a more secluded part of town. 

"What the–" Alex started to ask, but he was quickly cut off by a crazed Haley, eyes wide and words broken up by gasps of air, due to having just run halfway across town for seemingly no reason at all. Or, at least, no sane reason, he thought with a small smile. 

"You just met the new farmer, right?" she asked, and in his confusion, Alex simply nodded. 

"Alex." 

"Yeah?" 

" _I'm so gay._ " 

Alex couldn't help snickering at that, because honestly, Haley was being a little ridiculous right now. 

"That's not news, Haley. We all know you're gay," he replied, unable to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. 

Haley slapped him on the arm, clearly not as amused by his response as he was. 

"This is a serious matter, Alex! Have you even _seen_ Aki? How do I even flirt with... _that_?" she asked, leaning much too close to Alex for him to be comfortable. He could hear her perfectly fine from two feet away, let alone two inches away. 

"She's not some unreachable goddess like you're making her out to be," Alex replied, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. "She's just the new farmer chick. I think your emotions just might be getting the better of you right now." As he spoke, he gently pushed Haley away to give himself a more natural amount of personal space, and she pouted slightly, crossing her arms. 

"Come on Alex, I don't want a voice of reason right now!" Haley said, rolling her eyes. "I want my best friend that will freak out with me and gossip over how she's _totally my soulmate!_ " 

Alex paused for a few moments, wondering briefly if he had heard that correctly. 

"Your soulmate?" he asked, feeling rather dumb for repeating what she had clearly just said. He just didn't understand how she could know so quickly. It wasn't that easy, at least not for him. "How do you even know? You literally just met her." 

"It's the birthmark," Haley replied, gesturing to her neck. "You remember me telling you about how I always see it in my dreams. The one I thought looked like butterfly wings. She has it." 

Of course Alex remembered Haley telling him about this; they did talk often about their soulmate dreams, after all, but he hadn't even noticed a birthmark on Aki. He had been too busy trying not to be intimidated by her oddities (and failing miserably). He just hoped she wasn't mistaken about this one, because he could see the clear excitement in her eyes, and he didn't want to see her crushed. 

(As the certified pessimist of their friendship, he was practically required to think about these possibilities.) 

He didn't dare mention his concerns to her, however, as he knew she wouldn't want to hear that right now. Haley prided herself in being an "independent woman" when it came to her love life, and surely wouldn't appreciate his interference (in other words, she just didn't want him to bring up the possible downsides to this). 

"You should go talk to her some more," Alex suggested, doing his best to reciprocate Haley's excitement with a similar level of enthusiasm. "See what she's like, y'know?" 

"You are so right!" Haley exclaimed, and before he could react, she was already on the move again, leaving Alex to fruitlessly chase after her. He had planned to just go down to the beach today, like usual, but this was much more interesting, so naturally, he just had to tag along. 

He wasn't sure quite how long Haley had led him around the town in a wild goose chase to find Aki (with a quick pit stop at Alex's house so he could change out of his swimsuit; it was clear he wasn't going to be using it today), but by the time they found themselves at the saloon, it was already becoming evening. It was around this time that Alex would usually head home, but he decided to stick it out for Haley's sake. He made a mental note to apologize to Evelyn for possibly worrying her by not coming home on time. 

As expected, at this time of the evening, the saloon was bustling with the usual customers, plus a few extra additions. Unsurprisingly, considering how friendly she had been this morning, Aki was right in the middle of the social hub of the town, introducing herself to everyone with a smile. 

Haley shot an eager and slightly nervous look at Alex, and he responded with a simple smile and a thumbs up. With that, she left his side and made her way over to Aki, engaging her in conversation almost immediately. 

Alex couldn't quite tell from here, but if he squinted, it kind of looked like Aki had a birthmark on her neck in the shape of battered butterfly wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, it's the long overdue update that no one ever thought would come! :0  
> i apologize for the shortness! i was gonna make this chapter, like, twice as long, but i'm also tired and don't want to write any more, so this is it for now! more coming soon, though~
> 
> if you wanna talk stardew valley with me, hmu whenever! i'm always happy to chat~  
> my tumblr can be found [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/taciturnmasquerade)!


End file.
